While in high school, as I’m sure many of my peers did, I would frequently think about what college would be like when I finally got there. The fault in my day dreaming, however, was that I never seemed to take the time to consider what my course work would actually be like. I knew what I wanted to major in, and I was fully aware that it was not going to be easy in any capacity, however; for a reason that still escapes me, I imagined myself spending all of my time doing fun and recreational things, like playing quidditch, and not in the library studying. Looking back, I am aware of how ridiculous that notion was, but I am also aware of what kind of student I was in high school; I was the student who never really had to try to get good grades and because of that, there was no shortage of teachers and mentors who told me that I would need to “learn how to study” when I arrived here at OSU.

As my first semester here comes to a close, I would like to think that I achieved that goal, learning how to really study, however I am also aware that there are many more ways in which I can grow as a student. I would also like to think that living in this undefined stage of pseudo-independence has allowed me to grow as a person. I suppose, however, that I will never be the best judge of that, as I’m not given any scores on Carmen for it, but I’m sure that in the coming semesters I will be better able to quantify it.

“My mom told me last year that I should definitely not major in english. I remember when I was taking AP English that the would always ask me questions like ‘what does the color green symbolize’ and the only response I could think of was that green is green, its a wavelength on the electromagnetic spectrum. At that point, she would just give me a look that said ‘you should definitely not major in english.'”

When I was entering into the Strength Quest program on my computer; would this just be another aptitude test, similar to the many that I have taken in the past, or would is somehow be different and inspire me to become a better and more fulfilled version of myself. At this point, the answer is still unclear. In class, we discussed the idea that the results of the test may not take immediate effect, and that it may take some time for us fully understand what they were telling us. I suppose that this is a possibility, however; for me it is clear that my results do in fact reflect what I currently know about my personality, so was rather underwhelmed by this evidence that merely reaffirmed what I already knew. Despite this view, I could see my results changing in the future as I mature and get closer to achieving my life goals, and this could very well be helpful to me at a time in which my strengths are being pushed to the extreme.

My top five strengths in order were Restorative, Input, Ideation, Futuristic and Learner. All of these, as I’ve said before, make perfect sense to me. The only aspect that I have slight reservations for is the idea that these are all undeniable strengths of mine, and not simply things that I enjoy doing or thinking about. Restorative, for example, is described as “People who are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it.” My interpretation was that I really enjoy puzzles. I feel that this statement reflects well on my personality and even my career goals, mainly because I do really love puzzles, but at this point in my life, they seem more like something that I enjoy and not so much something that is excel in more than everything else on the list.

I would like to further clarify the previous paragraph by saying that I do very much agree with all five of the strengths that Strength Quest has listed for me, and I feel very strongly that they apply to my personality, but as I said before, I do not see these qualities as strengths more than simple aspects of my personality. I was also very much unsurprised by the results and the questions that made up the assessment. Again, there is a possibility that in the future my opinion, or even my strengths themselves may change, however as of now, I was unimpressed.

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

My first week on campus has been a very exciting one; making new friends and embracing a new life style has been an interesting experience, and has taken a great deal of adapting. In the four years of high school that led up to my arrival here at The Ohio State University, it seemed as though my entire life was focused on the sole task of being accepted into college, and this was partially true, so now that I am finally here it is difficult to be fully aware of that fact.

My college experience began in a fairly awkward fashion, filled with far too many icebreakers in the OWL program, but I was soon bonding with the other OWLs over the intense heat that one experiences in Baker East and the next thing I knew, everyone was moved in and classes began.

I remember in high school, many of my teachers talked with me about how my college classes would be at a completely different level than anything I had experienced so far, and that I would have to completely change my studying habits, as someone who, in the past, had done well in school without having to do much work. This, of course, terrified me deeply, as I thought that I would not be able to make these changes; however, as I eased into my first classes, I realized that the transition came naturally.

Despite the slightly awkward first day, my first week of college has been an interesting and self discovering time and I can’t wait for the many weeks to come.